Railroad-spike



H. e. NORWOOD.

RAILROAD SPIKE.

APPLICATION HLED- NOV. 29, I918.

Patented Feb. 24, 1920. I

"/m mfor UNITED S ES .1

HARRY G. NORWOOD, 0F BALTIMORE, MARYLANDyASSIGNORQ BY DIRECT .A ND.ME SNE ASSIGNMENTS, OF ONE-HALF TO NAPOLEON B. LO BE 1ND S...IBUBNSIRATGLIIFE, BOTH OF BALTIMORE, MARETLAND, .TRADING..&S. N..B. .LOBE &'CO.,. OF BALTIMORE,

;MARYLAND, AND ONE-FOURTH TO EMIL J. KLEMIVL AND ONEeIOURTH WISCHMEYER, JR, BOTH OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

.TO EDWARD I Specification of Letters I a/cent. -Patented Fbi 24,1920;

Applicationfiled November 29, 1918. -SerriaYNo.26 %,551.

To-allwhomdt may concern:

Beit known that'I, 'H'ARRY' G. NoRwooD, a citizen of the United"Statesyresiding at Baltimore,"in the State of Maryland, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements-in Railroad=Spikes and I do hereby declare the following to be a'full, clear, and exact description of. the inventionysiich as will enable others skilled in the art to which it "app'ertainsto make and use the same.

My invention relates to rail-roadspikes.

One" object of my invention isto produce a. -railroad spike which can bedriven readily within the tie.

Another obj'ect of "my'inve'ntion is to produce a railroad spike which can be quickly secured within'the'tie after it is'driVen therein.

I "Another-object'of my invention is to shape theentering end'of said spike so that splitting" of the'tie'will be avoided.

Another object of myinventi'on is to'shape the head "of saidspike so "thatthe -motion which secures said spike within the tie will also cause said head to grip therail.

Another object ofmy invention is toprovide means on said spike for sealing'the top of thB hOle fOTmGd" by driving said spike into said tie' so that the ingress of water to saidh'ole isin a large degreeprevented.

1n thedrawings Figure l is a 'view'showing a" portion-of a mu, aportion of a tie, both'in section, -with ions of "myimproved spikes in' place'in-s'aid tie. The'spike isshowninthe positionin which it holds therailtothe tie.

FigQQis a view similar to Fig. 1, but'the spikeisshown in the" position it occupies when it has been driven into the tie and before it is turned into the holding position.

Fig. 3 is a section of the spike shown in Fig. 1 as taken along the line 33 in said figure looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 4 is a View of the parts shown in Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow 4 in said figure.

Fig. 5 is a View of the spike shown in Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the'arrow 5 in said figure.

Fig. 6 is a partial View of an alternative form of body which may" be used in lieu of the body shown in Figssl and-2,

'In' the drawings r 10 represents an ordinary tie such as is used in the construction of railroads, r 11 represents'the web and 12,; the lower flange of any approved form of rail. 13 -is one form of my improved railroadspike.

*Thespike l3 has a chiseledgell where.

17 as shown in Fig. '1, and said surfaces meet andtform: the substantially semi-circular sharp edges 19-19. The shank 17 ex- .tend's slightly below the trammel teeth 16 16-and a groove such as 20 is turned in saiclshank=-fo1' apurp'ose hereinafter ex- .plained.

Other trammel teeth, such as 21- -21,upon the spike-13 are shaped similarly to the teeth -1616. There may be any suitablenumher of teeth such as 2121 formed upon the shank 17 in addition to the lowest teeth 16-46. Above' theuppermost qtrammel teeth'2222 theshahk 17 is provided with a tapered shank 23 fora purpose-hereinafter explained.

The flat surfaces I The head of thespike"13-'cornprisesthe lentic'ularly"shaped-top.245,1the parallel sides 2525', 'the'curved end 26 the angularly' disposed'faces 27-27 and the: flat efid-Q'S.

The bottom of the head is formed by the hclically shaped surface 29 for a purpose hereinafter explained.

In the Variation shown in Fig. 6, the shank 30 is shaped the same as the shank 17 in Fig. 1, but the teeth 31-31 have flat surfaces such as 3232 at the top thereof; the lower surfaces 33-33 of the teeth 3131 are angularly disposed, the same as the surfaces 18-18 of the teeth 16-16 shown in Fig. 1. The junction of the fiat surfaces 8232 with the angularly disposed surfaces 8333 forms semi-circularly shaped edges such as the edges 19-19 shown in Figs. 1, '2, 3 and 5.

lows I b the aforesaidturning.

The rail is to be placed in position with its flange resting upon the tie 10, the grain of the wood composing the latter running in the direction shown in Fig. 4. The spike 13 is then to be held upon the upper surface of the tie 10 with the chisel edge across the grain of'said tie. The lenticular top 24 is then to be struck with a hammer until the spike 13 is driven into the tie 10 to the position shown in Fig. 2 with the side of the helically shaped bottom 29 resting upon the upper surface of the flange 12 and the 11pper portion of the taper 23 in contact with the edge of the flange 12. In this position of the spike the head will occupy the position shown dotted in Fig. 4.

A wrench is then to be applied to the flat surfaces 25-25 of the head of the spike l3 and said spike is to be turned from the positionshown dotted in Fig. 4 to the position I shownby full lines in. said figure. This will turn the spike 13 from the position shown in Fig.2 to that shown in Flg. 1.

When the spike 13 is turnedas just described, the teeth 16 ,16, 21-2l and 22-22 will cut into the wood composing the tie 10 and will thus prevent any longitudinal movement of said spike with reference to said tie. At the same time, the portion of the helically shaped bottom, shown at the left in Fig. 1 and at the front in Fig. 2, will engage the upper surface of the flan e 12 and will press the lower surface of said flange tightly against the upper surface of the tie 10.

The groove 20 is provided in the lower surface of the shank 17 in order to reduce the resistance of the flat surfaces l5 15 to When the spike 13 is driven in to the position shown in Fig. 2 the taper 23 is caused to fit tightly against the adjacent .fibers of the tie l0 and thus serves to act as a stopperto prevent the ingress of water within the hole formed when said spike is driven into said tie, thus insuring that the fibers of the tie 10 urroundingthe shank 17 and the teeth 16-l6, 2121' and 22-22 shall be kept free from moisture, whereby deterioration of said'fibers isavoided.

A spike comprising the variation shown in Fig. 6 is'used in themannerjust'described and its operation is as just described.

' I claim r j 1. In a railroad spike, the combination with a shank, and an elongated head on one end of said shank, of a helically shaped bottom on said head, and a chisel edge on the other end of said shankparallel to the length of said head. V I 2. In a railroad spike, the combination with a shank, of a head on one end of said the edges of said teeth being in the sameplane.

' 4. In a railroad spike, the combination with an approximately cylindrical shank, a head on one end of said shank,:and an entering Wedge onthe other end of said shank, of a plurality of trammel teeth formed on said shank, theupper surfaces of said teeth being flat and the lower surfaces of said teeth being angularly disposed to said flat surfaces and meeting them in-approximately semi-circular edges at the periphery of said teeth.

5. In arailroad spike, the combination with a shank, of a head on one end of said.

shank, av chisel edge on the other end of said shank, a groove in aid shank adjacent to said edge, a'tapered part on said shank beginning at said head andextending toward the other end of said shank a part of its length, and a plurality of trammel teeth formed on said shank. In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

HARRY G. NORWOOD. 

